Windows 7 on the Mac Under Parallels
I love Parallels. Parallels is virtualization software: it allows you to create a pretend (virtual) machine on your Mac, on which you can install Windows or Ubuntu or Slackware or whatever. It’s a powerful concept: you can create a dedicated Linux machine for Web browsing, or a Windows computer that never connects to anything except your bank.
Generally Parallels is easy to use and set up. The hardest thing about it is spelling the word “Parallels.” I find this to be difficult: there are three separate places where you have to decide on double- or single-consonants.
So I’m eager to try the new Windows 7 public beta on Parallels. After some adventures (mostly stupid), I got Windows 7 to install OK under Parallels, and I find it to be quite zippy (totally unlike Vista).
But I can’t get networking to go. I can’t get Windows 7 to recognize my imaginary network card. It recognizes all the other imaginary hardware… so what’s the deal?